Bad news for Netherlands international: 'As long as he plays there, Xavi will not select him'

Luciano Valente is perhaps the standout omission from head coach Xavi Hernández's first Netherlands squad. The Feyenoord captain has made an excellent start to the season, but he was not called up for the Dutch national team's upcoming Nations League matches. Valentijn Driessen knows why.

"Valente, like Zechiël, is an attacking midfielder, but he may well end up being the one who misses out," Driessen says in De Telegraaf's Kick-off podcast. "Because he fits in very well on the left wing at Feyenoord, but Xavi sees him as an attacking midfielder."

Speaking at Monday's press conference in Zeist, Xavi said: "I would actually rather not go into individual players, but yes, we are following Valente. He is a good, potential player for us. The door to the Netherlands is also open for him. It's just that we already have a lot of very good midfielders. I really see him as an attacking midfielder and not as a left winger."

Verweij then adds: "I was also quite surprised that Valente was disappointed not to be in it. But that is of course also partly because of how things are going for him at Feyenoord right now. Xavi rightly said: I see him as a midfielder, not as a left winger."

Following Feyenoord's 5-0 win over FC Utrecht, Valente made it clear to ESPN's cameras that he was disappointed by the head coach's decision. "Of course you're disappointed. Deep down I had been hoping a little that I would be in, but I have to do my talking on the pitch, and I did that today."

Driessen continues: "This is of course an issue. For Valente, this is going to become an issue. Van Bronckhorst has no intention of playing him in midfield, and that simply makes his chances of a call-up to the Netherlands national team a great deal smaller." Verweij is even more emphatic: "As long as Valente plays in that position, he will not be selected."

When Donyell Malen and Justin Kluivert dropped out, Valente may briefly have had hope, but Xavi called up Mexx Meerdink and Guus Til as replacements. Driessen feels that made sense. "Kluivert is also someone who plays in behind, gets into goalscoring positions and scores goals. Til can do that too, of course. That's why he called up Til, and not Valente," the football editor concludes.